Open House: Do you think by doing away with merit lists, unhealthy competition among children can be prevented?

Competition breeds contempt, insecurity

Advertisement

Whenever any board results are declared, there seems a close competition among students for every mark, even for decimals. In order to avoid unhealthy competition, which is counterproductive in many ways, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) recently did away with the old system of merit list assignments in various bands as first, second and third divisions. However, this couldn’t stop the process of ranking in top positions. For the past few decades, our education system has been predominantly focussed on scoring marks than evaluation on the basis of talent/skill among the pupils. As a result, students mostly become bookworm, crammers and get afflicted to complicated health issues at the very prime age, while those who secure fewer marks feel depressed and demoralised. Every child has a specific bent of mind and unique tendencies, it is the congenial environment that transforms one’s aptitude and leads him to the right direction. Our prevailing examination system is, however, lacking in that perspective, where very little emphasis is laid on grooming the inherent qualities amongst the young minds. It is often seen that some low scorers in exams have excelled later in life and become icons. Obviously a genuine competition prompts growth and will to achieve, but unhealthy race occasionally leads to frustration, which ought to be curbed to build an environment for fair and equal opportunity for all. No denying that initial grooming strikes significant difference in individuals’ future career planning in various fields. However, a large number of students vying for a limited seats or preferred courses, it is impossible to be stress-free for those who fail to achieve goals merely by these cosmetic changes. Nevertheless, discarding the primitive practice of classification of results on the basis of marks obtained in exams will prevent demoralisation of students placed at lower bands and create zeal to perform better and improve the ranking!

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Cosmetic Change won’t reduce stress, Anxiety

However progressive and well-intentioned it may appear, the decision of the CBSE and the CISCE to do away with the merit list and division-wise marks in the recently declared Class X and XII exams results will not prevent the unhealthy competition among students. This cosmetic change would also neither ease students’ nor their parents’ unbearable mental stress and anxiety. Since admissions to undergraduate courses in the central universities will be based on the CUET score, students are expected to focus on the core subjects they wish to take up. Those from well-to-do families will skip their regular classes and go to private tutors or join the mushrooming academies to sharpen their competitive skills. Such students will surely fare better than others who are deprived of the privilege of private coaching, forfeiting the very notion of providing a level-playing field. Anyhow, the score of Class XII board will retain its importance as it will decide the eligibility criterion for the CUET, and for admissions to private and distance education universities, apart from foreign ones. When students have to vie for a limited number of seats in prestigious medical and engineering colleges, stress is somewhat obvious. This year’s board results were declared without merit list due to exceptional circumstances in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. We should not continue with the trend in the coming years. We should encourage the spirit of competition which brings out the best in students rather than giving them a false sense of success and pride, and creating panic. Passionate and career-conscious students put their heart and soul in studies with an aim to propel themselves beyond mediocrity and into the elite status.

DS Kang

Meritorious students need encouragement

Education, syllabus and marking of answer sheets have constantly changed over the period of time. Four decades ago, 35 to 49.9 per cent marks out of 100 were calculated as third division, 50 per cent to 59.9 as second division and 60 per cent and above as first division. At that time, the maximum marks scored by students used to be 75 to 80 per cent. Even for admissions to medical and engineering colleges, aspirants required a minimum of 60 per cent marks for eligibility. Times changed and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) adopted the grade system. Grade A was considered excellent, B very good, C good, D fair, and E not satisfactory. In modern times, students are scoring 99.9 per cent marks easily, some are getting 100 out of 100 too, raising serious doubts about the internal assessment and practical examinations. Though it’s a good move by the CBSE to do away with the merit list, it’s important students know where they stand so they could work on the areas of improvement. Today’s children are very competitive and know how to handle pressure. Therefore, some sort of arrangement should be made to differentiate meritorious students from others.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Move will end uncalled for comparison

The CBSE’s decision to not assign first, second and third divisions in the final exams, no doubt, is a student-friendly move. It will not only increase and improve the pass percentage, but will also reduce undesired and uncalled for comparison of small difference of marks and eliminate unhealthy competition among high percentage achievers. In all, this will ease the mounting pressure of getting more and more marks on students. With the doing away of the merit lists, an environment of stress-free learning can be created, wherein students can focus on acquiring knowledge without having any sort of pressure to prove themselves. The current system however doesn’t ensure fairness. It may not accurately reflect what students are learning and wouldn’t give them a proper feedback on how well they have mastered a particular subject. The focus on clearing competitive exams has increased reliance on private institute-based tuitions rather than school or classroom teaching.

Shashi Kiran

CBSE’s decision won’t serve purpose

The CBSE’s recent decision of not assigning first, second and third divisions to students and abolishing the merit list will not fully serve the purpose for which these cosmetic changes are initiated. This is a temporary deferment of students’ stress. How the move will help promote healthy competition among students is beyond one’s apprehension. The ultimate purpose of majority of students is to seek admission to some technical or professional institution for which they are supposed to appear in competitive examinations. Their success again depends upon the merit they achieve therein. This is an apathetic measure to degrade higher education and in turn to make school infrastructure underutilised which is not affordable in our country. In a way, this can be called a clandestine measure to promote vested culture of coaching centres which, according to the past experience, are more responsible for mounting stress and unhealthy competition among aspirants. It is suggested that in higher secondary education itself, the curriculum of studies should be reoriented and designed in such a way that students need not run after coaching centres to prepare for common entrance examinations for seeking admission to professional institutions or universities for higher education.

Jagdish Chander

Need to look into education system

There is no doubt that students have always been pressured by parents, teachers and friends to score more marks. Post liberalisation, education has been commercialised to a great extent and many unethical practices like engaging institutions, leaking papers in advance, using influence or money power, rote learning, liberal marking etc., have gained ground. One wonders how can any student score cent per cent marks in language? The current obsession with medical and engineering degrees for a better future has led to an unhealthy competition amongst students. But those who fail to achieve the desired score become desperate and sometimes end life by suicide. To avoid such an eventuality, the CBSE has discontinued the practice of announcing national toppers. This year, the results were declared on the basis of alternate assessment scheme because exams could not be conducted due to the pandemic. The board has also not awarded first, second and third division to students and will issue merit certificates to 0.1 per cent of students who have scored the highest marks in the subjects. But schools should encourage Class XII students to give equal attention to all subjects as the final score will decide the eligibility criterion for the CUET and other competitive exams like the NEET and JEE, which have a different standard of question papers. In fact, the entire education and examination should be overhauled to rid it from multiple drawbacks it suffers from.

Simran & Tajpreet S Kang

Merit lists only increase pressure

Although the system of assigning first, second and third divisions or declaring merit lists was meant to be a tool to encourage students to give their best but this methodology has only created problems. It has become a cause of social pressure and mental stress among children, leading them to unhealthy competition. In fact, private institutions are to blame for the increasing burden of performance as they make extraordinary efforts to get their students feature on the merit lists to hog more limelight and gain more admissions. So the decision to do away with this system can prove to be a good one. At the same time, authorities should ensure that exceptionally bright students get the appreciation they deserve.

Manveer Kaur

Role of parents equally important

Besides CBSE’s decision on not assigning first, second and third divisions to students, the role of parents is equally vital to discourage unhealthy competition. After all, there are many parents who compare their children with classmates, cousins and kids of their age in the neighbourhood. This creates a huge pressure on the children, affecting them mentally. What parents forget is that every child is different, has a different level of capability and interests. Until this is not understood, it will continue to envelop the children in unnecessary pressure and also in the fear of rejection in case they fail to meet expectations of their parents. Moreover, it should be realised that scoring 90 per cent marks is not everything. Those who score 70s or 80s also mean a lot. Children who get 50 per cent or 60 per cent marks also doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to do well in their career and life. Let’s not forget the words of late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam: “Some of the brightest minds in the country can be found on the last benches of the classroom.”

Rameshinder Singh Sandhu

Can be demotivating for board toppers

The CBSE’s decision to not announce the merit list can be advantageous and disadvantageous at the same time. Giving divisions to meritorious students is advantageous as a student on getting good marks feels motivated to study and perform well in his or her future endeavours. It can be disadvantageous as it leads to unhealthy competition among students and demotivates a student who has worked hard for exams.

Mishpreet Kaur

CBSE’s Decision inconsequential

Apropos of CBSE’s “cosmetic changes”, the decision to do away with merit lists for Class X and XII exams is inconsequential as admission to Central universities shall be based on the CUET score. Students will have to undergo more coaching, leading to more stress. Coaching centers for CUET exam have started mushrooming now. Students will have to pay more for the coaching and only those who can afford can take coaching. Schools should advise students to zero in on their Class XII syllabus, a key to cracking the competitive exam. This shall assuage the anxiety of students and parents.

Rohit Kumar Sehdev

QUESTION

The recent controversy involving the Health Minister and the Vice-Chancellor of a medical institute of repute has put the spotlight on the larger issue — the ailing infrastructure. What do you think can be done to improve health facilities in the state?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (August 4)